Day 17: Making Time Count

I have so much expectation about what God will do this year! God is going to show Himself strong and mighty on behalf of those who will seek Him. It is so important that we set aside time to seek God more and more. Time is precious, and it is more important now than ever that we do not waste our precious time.

Have you ever heard the phrase “just killing time”? We need to come to a place of strong conviction where we would never want to just kill time. Our time is very valuable and precious. Our time is much more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you can never get more time. Once you spend your minutes, hours, and days, they are gone forever.

What value do you place on your time? Do you make good use of the allotted time you’re given in each brand-new day? For example, when you find yourself in situations in which you’re just waiting around, do you occupy yourself doing something productive, or are you idle? I encourage you in those circumstances not to just sit there and let your mind wander.

I have done that so many times. In the huge city of Moscow, you can spend hours in traffic just traveling across the city to a meeting. In the course of just a few miles of traveling, your eyes can scan hundreds of advertisements and thousands of cars! In a situation like that, it’s easy just to let your mind drift as you pass the time.

Several years ago, the Holy Spirit convicted me about wasting time. He showed me the importance of making my time count. Now when I’m traveling in busy traffic, I keep a book or audio teaching in my purse. If I forget one of those for some reason, I use my time to clean out my purse and to pray.

I’m sure we all can think of ways to better utilize our time — to use it in ways that are productive and that bring blessing and fullness to our own lives and the lives of others. For example, we can organize a closet or drawer, we can read an enriching book or magazine article, we can call a friend who has been on our heart — and, most importantly, we can pray and seek God and fellowship with Him around His Word.

Time is a precious commodity for each one of us, so why waste it? Time holds opportunities for us to grasp and make the most of. Time affords us opportunities to make something of ourselves and to serve others. There are only so many hours in a day. We must take hold of each one and not let it slip away.

Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4). Praise God, it’s not “night” yet. But what are we doing with those “daylight” hours we still have left? We will waste them if we fail to value our time as precious.

We cannot let time just slip between our fingers. We will each stand before Jesus one day to answer Him when He asks, “What did you do with the time I gave you?” If we failed to use our time to know Him better and to love and serve others, we won’t be able to excuse ourselves, saying, “Lord, forgive me — I just didn’t have enough time.”

These are crucial times we live in. How we spend our time is a very serious matter. We need to make the most of every opportunity to learn more about God and His Word, to serve Him, and to make sure our hearts are right with others. We must forgive quickly, and also ask for forgiveness when we need to, because we don’t really know that we’ll ever have those opportunities again.

Time is passing, and we will never get this time back!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Life is short.” Well, in comparison with eternity, our life on earth really is short! Psalm 90:12 (NLT) says, “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” It’s wisdom to make the best use of our time while we’re here so we can be ready for God’s plan for our lives as it unfolds. It really is time to seek the Lord (see Hosea 10:12)!

If you have any prayer requests, please contact us so we can stand in faith with you about the answers you’re seeking.

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OUR VISION… Is to take the Gospel both to our nearby world and to the ends of the earth, proclaiming Christ, and warning and teaching every man with all wisdom, in order that we may present every person fully mature in Christ Jesus. – Colossians 1:28